Mr. Speaker, I referred to a number of areas where I think Canada needs to make progress in developing equipment and machinery, especially for resource development in the Arctic. In the 1970s and 1980s Canada did pretty well with what it built for the north.

A primary industry like shipbuilding is not simply about building hulls and putting sails on or motors in. It is an integrated industry. It is also about the people who build all the electronics, the people who build the machinery that is used on the ships. Those industries are attached to other industries. If we take the legs out from under the electronics industry for marine use in shipbuilding, we will see a drop off in that industry and an inability of that industry to compete in other areas. Shipbuilding is the prime industry but it is surrounded by other industries. Pulling the prime industry out puts the boots to many other industries.

Mr. Speaker, I have to say, God love a Liberal. The Liberals are rising in the House to defend a report which nine years ago they did absolutely nothing on, while they are getting ready to sell out the entire shipbuilding industry in Canada. One has to have a lot of nerve to do that.

Liberal members have been besieged by hundreds of letters from shipyard workers in their ridings, boilermakers, sheet metal workers, people who depend on the shipbuilding industry and the Liberal members are giving them the backs of their hands. It is absolutely disgraceful.

The Conservatives and the Liberals are conspiring together to sell out one more industry. They did it with the softwood lumber sellout and now they are doing it with shipbuilding.

Could the hon. member for Western Arctic tell the House why the Liberals and the Conservatives always get it wrong?

Mr. Speaker, I have been in the House only three years. I have only seen the Liberals and the Conservatives get it wrong for three years. Sorry, I cannot speak to nine years ago and I really do not want to go there.

What I want is to get it right for Canada. I am speaking to this bill to try to impress upon members the need to look ahead, and not to think of ideologies other parties held so dear for many years because they thought that was the way to go. We have to consider where Canada has to go. We should not think about the past. We should think about the future.

The hon. member for Burnaby—New Westminster referred to the sellout of the lumber deal. I chaired the committee when it did the review. He was a member of the committee. All the stakeholders came before the committee and asked for financial support, which the Liberal team was ready to give. What happened? The Liberals agreed with the NDP on the 2005 budget, but the NDP went to bed with the Conservatives and the deal went down the drain. A billion dollars was left in the United States. The lumber deal went down the drain thanks to the NDP.

Mr. Speaker, I really do not want to repeat myself and I do not want to go in directions we do not need to go in this House.

The issue in front of us is a 25% tariff that is going to be applied to our shipbuilding industry over the next three years. This will actually cripple the industry at a very difficult time for industry in general. What are we doing? Why are we doing something that was created by the Liberals nine years ago and carried on by the Conservative Party? What is going on in this country?

Mr. Speaker, that was an interesting intervention especially given the fact that the NDP did not even have enough votes to vote with the Liberals at that time. Obviously the Liberals cannot even do basic counting.

The Canadian public was tired of the Liberals' behaviour with respect to the sponsorship program. That is really what is at stake here. The bluster coming from the member shows the sensitivity the Liberals have about this issue. They know that their minister at the time, David Emerson, who flip-flopped and crossed the floor to the Conservatives, was the mastermind behind it. He sold us out with the softwood lumber deal. He was the architect of and tried to sell us out with the South Korea deal, which the New Democrats have been able to stop. The heart of the matter is that this deal should be stopped right now. If the Liberals want to do something productive, they could carve out this element and correct their ways.

Mr. Speaker, the fundamental problem that I see is we did not have enough seats then and we do not have enough seats now to do the right thing for Canadians. The solution of course is more seats for the New Democratic Party.

Mr. Speaker, with the coming of spring, millions of people around the world have observed the Persian New Year, Norouz. The people of Iran have celebrated Norouz, the first day of spring for over 3,000 years. In recognition of this occasion, and as the government liaison to the Persian and Iranian community in Canada, I am delighted to extend my warmest greetings to all those in Canada who are celebrating this new year holiday.

In Canada, this gives us an occasion to embrace our brothers and sisters of Persian background and to learn more about the proud Persian culture, history and language. We in Canada draw tremendous strength from the rich history and diverse heritage which shape our lively cultural landscape. We acknowledge the contribution to Canada of people of Persian background.

This is a celebration that makes all of us in Canada happy. To repeat those words in Farsi, Jashnay Norouz dar Canada mojebay shadiay hameeay maas. Norouz Mobarak.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate two talented musicians from the riding of Random—Burin—St. George's: Bud Davidge and Sim Savory. Those two individuals are an impressive duo known as Simani. They have enriched Newfoundland and Labrador culture for over 30 years with their musical talent.

Mr. Davidge and Mr. Savory were recognized and awarded with the lifetime achievement award at MUSICNL, a Newfoundland and Labrador music awards show.

These two musicians played their first gig together in May 1977 in Belleoram. In 1981, after only four years of playing together, the duo had written enough material to produce an album.

In total, Simani has released thirteen albums, two books and has appeared on several TV specials. The longevity of the duo's career is proof of their success.

Newfoundland and Labrador is a big part of our culture. Today I thank and congratulate Simani on this prestigious lifetime achievement award.

Mr. Speaker, since 1980, 511 aboriginal women have disappeared or been murdered in Canada, according to the Native Women's Association of Canada, the NWAC. Aboriginal women are actually five times more likely than other Canadian women to die a violent death.

Over the last few years, both Amnesty International and the United Nations have asked Canada to investigate these unexplained disappearances.

The federal government has been reprimanded many times about this, and the time has certainly come for it to take action and develop a plan to fight violence against aboriginal women, as requested by the NWAC. The government should also immediately abide by its international commitments, inquire into the deaths and disappearances of these women, and fix the problems in the law enforcement system.

Finally, it is important as well to improve the social and economic conditions of aboriginal women, as guaranteed by international treaties to which Canada is a party, in order to reach levels worthy of a Western country.

Mr. Speaker, on Saturday I was proud to join more than 2,000 Hamiltonians, including Don Frasier, Rolf Gerstenberger, Bob Bratina, Andrea Horwath, Paul Miller and the NDP MPs for Hamilton East—Stoney Creek and Hamilton Mountain who marched to show their anger and frustration with industry and government attacks on their jobs and their pensions.

Like other manufacturing employees in the Ontario heartland, steelworkers are being laid off by the thousands. The very survival of our southern Ontario communities is at risk.

But the people of Hamilton are not known for just lying down and taking it. We are fighters and we will fight for decent jobs, fight for livable pensions and fight for the well-being of our community.

In fact, just last week Hamiltonians also took to the streets to save CHCH, our local TV news station.

Here is the message that those 2,000 workers asked us to bring back to the government: Stop ignoring layoffs. Stop ignoring the unemployed. Stop allowing foreign companies to control Canada. And stop pretending that fixing our economy is somebody else's problem.

Mr. Speaker, it is with great sadness that I rise in the House today to commemorate the passing of Richard Rumas.

Richard worked at the House of Commons for 34 years serving as a procedural clerk in several directorates. Most recently, Richard served as the Clerk of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage. I know that I speak for all members when I say that his time with our committee was far too short.

Richard will be remembered as a man who was always willing to share his knowledge with colleagues and who served all members faithfully and with distinction.

I ask all members to join me in remembering this remarkable man who served this House so well.

Mr. Speaker, March 21 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the beginning of the “Week of Solidarity with the Peoples Struggling against Racism and Racial Discrimination”.

On this day in 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people at a peaceful demonstration in Sharpeville, South Africa, against the apartheid pass laws.

The United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the day in 1966 and called on the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination.

Let us, therefore, remember all those who have fallen victim to acts of racism around the world and give thanks for their lives and the gifts they gave to their communities.

Let us be vigilant regarding human rights and ensure that our institutions and legislation are appropriate to punish those who discriminate, incite or perpetrate acts of violence against minorities.

Mr. Speaker, today I invite the world to come and see why my riding of Wild Rose is the most beautiful piece of country Canada has to offer.

This large region of Alberta has attracted visitors world-wide since the Canadian Pacific Railway brought the first tourists to Banff's mineral springs.

Generations have fallen in love with our land and built our vibrant communities that rise from the rolling prairie or nestle in the Rocky Mountains.

It is a region steeped in the history of the aboriginal peoples who have lived there for millennia, and the settlers who opened the Canadian west. That frontier heritage is reflected in our many summer rodeos and festivals.

Wild Rose is a place to walk nature trails and marvel at some of the last untouched wilderness in North America. It is a playground for hikers, skiers, campers and anglers. It is a place where elk and bighorn sheep saunter the streets of our mountain towns.

Mr. Speaker, we learned last week that the funding of the RCMP Public Complaints Commission may not be maintained at its current level. Less than two weeks from the cut-off date, the Minister of Public Safety has apparently still not made up his mind.

This commission plays an important role: it receives public complaints about the RCMP and can also hold inquiries, like the one on the use of tasers. Reducing the budget of this commission would greatly compromise its ability to conduct these inquiries, an ability that commission chair Kennedy considers “necessary to respond to current public expectations of police accountability”.

It is important for the minister to reassure Canadians that the commission’s funding will be maintained at current levels so that the review of public complaints does not degenerate into a real farce.